“A Dark Brown Dog” was written in 1893 by the American writer Stephen Crane. This short story was written as an allegory, meaning that its plot line and characters were written to connect to actual historical events and to the feelings of society during a specific time period. The time period and setting of Stephen Crane’s “A Dark Brown Dog” referred to was often called the Jim Crow South. In the Jim Crow South, newly emancipated slaves hoped that they would have a chance at a new beginning in life where they would be respected and treated with equality. However, as shown in this short story, this ideal treatment of African Americans did not often happen. Instead, Stephen Crane describes not only the unnecessary ruthlessness and cruelty of many white Americans towards former African American slaves but also the silent acceptance of this hatred and the feeling of powerlessness of the freed slaves in the United States during this Reconstructive Era.
Stephen Crane preferred to write short stories and novels that had actual historical meaning and references; he used different elements like the selections of a particular audience, point of view, and tone to accomplish writing these kinds of literary works. In “A Dark Brown Dog” he chose to write about the hardships of freed slaves during the Jim Crow South in a third person point of view. This is because while reading a story in a third person point of view, the reader is more likely to be able to analyze and understand the